Sahay meets Cong chief

OUR CORRESPONDENT

Ranchi, March 11: Subodh Kant Sahay, who has been kept on tenterhooks by the Congress on his renomination from Ranchi, claimed today that he met party president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi to assure her that he could win the Lok Sabha seat if given a chance this time too.

Sahay, whose name figured in the controversy over allotment of coal blocks, became a doubtful starter in the run-up to the general elections ever since party vice-president Rahul Gandhi asserted that the Congress would be fielding “clean” candidates this time.

“An announcement about Ranchi (Lok Sabha constituency) will be made tomorrow,” Sahay told The Telegraph over phone from Delhi, where he managed a meeting with the Congress boss around 10 in the morning.

“The party is yet to announce candidates for many parliamentary seats. Even the likes of Kapil Sibal have been kept waiting. In Ranchi, vested interests are spreading rumours about my fate. But whatever is the party’s decision, I will accept it,” said the Congress leader, who came under cloud for recommending to the Prime Minister’s office to allocate two coal blocks in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand to SKS Ispat.

His younger brother, Sudhir Kumar Sahay, is one of the directors of the company.

In another development, former Congress MLA and party’s Simdega president Niel Tirkey put his plans to join Ajsu on hold. Today, Ajsu had rolled out the red carpet for Tirkey, who had threatened to quit after being denied a ticket from Khunti. But he said he needed time to think.